Afghanistan is once again turning a graveyard for foreign invaders

Foreign troop deaths in Afghan war hit 100 in June.

A total of 100 foreign soldiers fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan have died in June, the deadliest month for Nato in nine years of conflict, intensifying concerns about the conduct of the war.

An announcement by the US Department of Defence of the death of an American soldier on June 24 in the strife-torn western province of Farah took the toll for the year to date to 320, compared with 520 in all of 2009.

AFP’s figures are based on a tally kept by the independent icasualties.org website.

The Defence Department said 20-year-old Private Robert Repkie of Tennessee had died on June 24 of “injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident” that was under investigation.

A spokesman for Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said 81 international troops had been killed in combat so far in June.

He said 12 troops had died of non-combat related causes. The remainder, who are not counted by Isaf, had died of injuries after returning home for treatment.

No Nato troops deaths were reported in Afghanistan on Monday, the spokesman said, adding: “A rare good day for us this month.”

The previous highest monthly toll was last August, at 77.

The United States and Nato have 140,000 troops in Afghanistan, set to peak at 150,000 by August in an effort to quell the intensifying war against the hardline Islamist Taliban.

The sacking last week of US General Stanley McChrystal for insubordination has concentrated concerns about the progress being made in bringing the insurgency under control.

His replacement, US General David Petraeus – due to take up the post on July 4, according to military officials – arrives to enormous pressure as casualties rise and Western public opinion continues to turn against the war.

The head of the CIA, Leon Panetta, also acknowledged at the weekend that there were “serious problems” with the Afghan war.

“We’re dealing with a country that has problems with governance, problems with corruption, problems with narcotics trafficking, problems with a Taliban insurgency,” he said.

Lack of action in cleaning up endemic official corruption is seen as an obstacle to progress, as many ordinary Afghans distrust the government the West is fighting to prop up.

On Monday, a senior US lawmaker angrily blocked billions of dollars for Afghanistan, vowing not to extend aid until President Hamid Karzai fulfills pledges to act against corruption.

Representative Nita Lowey, who sits on the powerful committee in charge of the budget, said: “I do not intend to appropriate one more dime for assistance to Afghanistan until I have confidence that US taxpayer money is not being abused to line the pockets of corrupt Afghan government officials, drug lords and terrorists.”

President Barack Obama’s administration requested 3.9 billion dollars in aid for Afghanistan in the 2011 fiscal year starting in October, an aide said.

While much of the anti-Taliban effort is concentrated on the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar – the Taliban heartland – a major offensive is under way in the border region of Kunar province, according to Isaf.

It said in a statement Sunday that more than 600 Isaf and Afghan troops were pursuing Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in Kunar and that “a number of insurgents” had been killed.

Two US troops were also killed, Isaf said, though there was no immediate update Tuesday.

The Washington Post reported that up to 150 Taliban insurgents had been killed in battles along the Kunar border with Pakistan.

The US-led operation, which began Sunday, was one of the largest yet in the region around Kunar province, said the newspaper, citing US officials as calling it “one of the most intense battles of the past year” in Afghanistan.

Nato has said the dramatic upswing in casualty numbers has been caused by the alliance stepping up military operations and taking the fight to the Taliban in areas where the Islamist militia has previously been unchallenged.

The heavy toll can be largely attributed to the Taliban’s use of homemade bombs, or improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which are cheap and easy to make and account for the majority of foreign troops deaths.

The United Nations reported this month that IED attacks had risen by 94 percent in the first four months of this year, compared to the same period in 2009. – AF

US Afghanistan war casualties military

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Finally Indian military has realized that they cannot subdue unparallel resolve of Kashmiris

Finally Indian military has realized that they cannot subdue unparallel resolve of Kashmiris. It would be interesting to see when a similar realization will enlightened the higher echelons in New Delhi.

The head of the Indian army has called for a political solution to unrest in Indian-administered Kashmir, saying the military should step back from its security role in the region.

Street violence in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley has increased in recent weeks after the deaths of several unarmed civilians who were killed as troops sought to contain protests against rule from New Delhi.

“I feel there is a great requirement for political initiatives that take all people together,” General V.K. Singh told the Times of India in an interview published Wednesday.

“Militarily, we have brought the overall internal security situation in Jammu and Kashmir under control. Now, the need is to handle things politically.”

Singh added that local police “need to be more active” to allow the army, currently numbering about 500,000, to reduce its presence in the region.

Three Indian soldiers and five suspected militants were killed in the latest gunbattle that started late Monday along the Line of Control (LoC) border that splits Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

The army said the militants were involved in one of many attempts to “infiltrate” the Indian-controlled sector from the Pakistani side.

Despite the street protests and border clashes, the insurgency has lessened in recent years amid peace talks between the two nations.

India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir since 1947, but the last major troop build-up was in 2002 after gunmen attacked the parliament in New Delhi, with the alleged backing of Pakistan.

“The armed forces are required to undertake operations in very difficult circumstances,” Singh said. “If the Jammu and Kashmir situation has come under control, it's the forces which have sacrificed with their blood.”

Tags: kashmir issue JKLF Line of Control

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West Bengal, India: Locals Accuse Police of Torture

The paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force has been deployed to establish law and order in three Maoists infested areas - West Medinipur, Purulia and Jhargram.

But local residents of various villages in West Bengal State say the security forces are torturing innocent villagers.

They say even young students are targeted.

[Manoranjan Manna, Injured Student]:
"Today the Joint forces saw red ink on my hand and they said I was paid to write posters for Maoists. They tortured me from 6 in the morning till 10 at night. Two of them stood over my chest and I had to push them away. Then five people from the Central Reserve Police Force came to torture me, lashing me with sticks and belts."

Villagers say there are 600 paramilitary forces on patrol and that they randomly pick students and other villagers and torture them.

Several students have been injured in the chest, face and back.

[Latika Patra, Mother of Injured Student]:
" Joint forces suddenly attacked him (my son) and fractured his face. He came home covering his face with his hand. They threatened that they would set us on fire and kill us. We sat there silently for some time and when they had gone, we came to the doctor for treatment for my son. They tortured every other student and villager."

In recent months, Maoist rebels have stepped up attacks in retaliation to a government offensive operation to clear them out of their jungle bases.

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Negotiation with Afghan Taliban not easy, even with Pakistan's help

by Imdad Hussain

Despite Pakistan's involvement in reconciliation within Afghanistan, the war will continue if conditions are imposed on Taliban who have upper hand, experts said Wednesday.

News regarding negotiations with armed groups and Taliban in Afghanistan with the help of Pakistan is again making rounds in recent media reports.

Responsible U.S. officials revealed in interviews that they were aware of the cooperation of Pakistan with the Afghan government in connection to peace in the country.

U.S. CENTCOM Gen David Petraeus said Tuesday Pakistan's involvement in a reconciliation agreement in Afghanistan is essential and the United States needs to further developing partnership between the two neighboring countries (Afghanistan and Pakistan).

Britain has been long stressing that Pakistan's concerns regarding Afghanistan should be addressed and a political solution should be sought out.

Assessing the situation, the United States also felt need of engaging Pakistan in the reconciliation process within Afghanistan. U.S. officials always urge Pakistan to play its role in this connection.

The Afghan government has also come to the conclusion that Pakistan role in resolving militancy issue in the region and Afghanistan is important. So it accepted that negotiation with the opposite elements is crucial for peace, observers maintained.

At present, there were three major opponents in Afghanistan: Hizb-e-Islami led by Gulbadin Hikmat Yaar, Taliban led by former ruler Mullah Omar and Haqqani network, reportedly based in Pakistan's North Waziristan, Afghanistan's Paktia, Paktika and Khost along bordering areas.

However, Haqqani and Mullah Omar are the strongest opponents operating in Afghanistan.

Rahimullah Yousafzai, expert on militancy and regional affairs, told Xinhua that Haqqani network is an extension of Afghan Taliban and they are not different.

Demands of U.S. as well as its backed Afghan government and that of anti-government forces in Afghanistan (Taliban and Haqqani) are absolutely opposite to each other.

Why should Taliban accept negotiation like a defeated force if it is not losing at least currently, experts maintained.

Taliban traditional stance demands that there will be no negotiations until foreign forces quit Afghanistan and they always reject any talks before accepting their stance. On the other side, U.S. is not ready to leave Afghanistan till some stability in the country.

Afghan officials offer negotiation coupled with conditions like laying the arms down, accepting constitution of Afghanistan and cutting relations with foreign militants specifically Al-Qaeda, to armed groups in their country.

At the backdrop of this situation, the Afghan government, the United States and its allies like Britain stress Pakistan's help or role for reconciliation in Afghanistan.

Yousafzai said, "Pakistan's connections with Taliban leadership are not something new. Pakistan supported them in 1994 and accepted their government in Afghanistan."

After the former Soviet Union aggression against Afghanistan, U. S.supported Jalaludin Haqqani, founder of the network and elderly father of Sirajuddin, through Pakistan, experts said.

Taliban would reject reconciliation if Pakistan goes beyond a limit as it is clear that they are at least not controlled by Pakistan, Yousafzai said, adding that the newly appointed U.S. General Patreaus is talking of fight to cut bargaining power of the resistance forces. "So peace or success of negotiation is not possible at this stage," he said.

The U.S. administration believes that bringing close Afghanistan and Pakistan is essential, so they want to assign a role to the later to keep peace in the region even if coalition forces quit Afghanistan, observers said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani announced Friday Pakistan's support for the process of reconciliation and integration in the neighboring war-shattered Afghanistan and promised its help in the plan.

To keep stability in its tribal areas and a stable Afghanistan is also in the interest of Pakistan, seasoned defense analyst and retired Lieutenant General Talat Masood told Xinhua.

But he rejected the claim that a meeting between Haqani and Afghan President Hamid Karzai has taken place. "Though negotiation and contacts are going on," he added.

U.S. intelligence officials also accept that contacts may be going on but ruled out any such meeting.

The bid for negotiation with Taliban is going on for the last two years. But if no direct meeting has taken place so far then it means that conditions for negotiations are either not acceptable to Taliban or to the coalition partners and the Afghan government.

Yousafzai, while rejecting any such meetings, said that Haqqani is a member of Taliban Shura, so he cannot take a step without consulting Mullah Omar, the Taliban chief in Afghanistan. "Nor is it possible that Haqqani went to Kabul, why should he go there," he concluded.

Analysts agreed that war is prevailing and continuing and peace process has not yet started. Peace on the foundations of conditions is not possible if Taliban are not weakened, they said.

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پاک چین ایٹمی معاہدے پر بھارت کی بوکھلاہٹ

پاکستان نے بھارت کے اس مطالبے کو مسترد کر دیا ہے جس میں یہ کہا گیا ہے کہ پاکستان چین کے ساتھ نیوکلیئر معاہدے کی وضاحت کرے' پاکستان کی وزارت خارجہ نے کہا ہے کہ بھارت نے اس نوعیت کا معاہدہ امریکہ کے ساتھ کیا جو اس نے پاکستان کے موقف کو فوری طور پر مسترد کر دیا تھا۔ تاہم پاکستان اور چین کے درمیان ہونے والا معاہدہ عالمی اصولوں کے مطابق ہے اور پاکستان آئی اے ای اے کے معاہدے کا پابند ہے اس پر کسی کو تشویش ہرگز نہیں ہونی چاہیے۔
بھارت اپنے تئیں خطے کی تھانیداری کے جنون میں مبتلا ہو کر جس طرح کے اقدامات اور خطے کے ممالک پہ اپنی چودھراہٹ قائم کرنے کے حربے کر رہا ہے وہ ناکامی سے دوچار ہو رہے ہیں' کیونکہ بھارت کے توسیع پسندانہ عزائم دنیا کے سامنے کھل چکے ہیں' بھارت اگر اسلحے کی دوڑ میں آگے آگے جارہا ہے تو اس کا یہی مطلب ہے کہ وہ طاقت کے زور پہ خطے کی تھانیداری کرنے کا خواہاں ہے اور اگر پاکستان اپنے دفاع کو مضبوط بنانے کے لئے کوئی اقدام کرتا ہے تو بھارت شور مچاتا ہے کہ پاکستان کو روکا جائے' اب بھارت کو یہ بات ہضم نہیں ہو پارہی ہے کہ پاک چین سول ایٹمی معاہدہ کیوں ہوا حالانکہ پاکستان اور چین کے درمیان یہ معاہدہ پاکستان کے توانائی کے بحران پہ قابو پانے کے لئے ہوا ہے' اور جس وقت امریکہ اور بھارت کے درمیان ایٹمی معاہدہ ہوا تھا بھارت نے اس حوالے سے پاکستان کے خدشات دور نہیں کئے تھے' اگر بھارت نے پاکستان کے خدشات دور نہیں کئے تھے تو اب بھارت نے کس حیثیت سے وضاحت مانگ لی ہے۔ پاکستان اور چین کے درمیان معاہدہ بین الاقوامی اصولوں کے عین مطابق ہے اس میں بھارت کی تشویش بلاجواز ہے اور پاکستان آئی اے ای اے کے معاہدے کا پابند ہے۔

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Israeli Point Man Working in US Congress Targets the Internet

According to the bill he recently proposed in the Senate, the entire global Internet is to be claimed as a “national asset” of the United States and the US President would be given the power to “kill” the Internet in the event of a “national cyber-emergency.

It would be hard to think of anyone who has done more to undermine American freedoms than Joseph Lieberman.

Since 9/11, the Independent senator from Connecticut has introduced a raft of legislation in the name of the “global war on terror” which has steadily eroded constitutional rights. If the United States looks increasingly like a police state, Senator Lieberman has to take much of the credit for it.

On October 11, 2001, exactly one month after 9/11, Lieberman introduced S. 1534, a bill to establish a Department of Homeland Security. Since then, he has been the main mover behind such draconian legislation as the Protect America Act of 2007, the Enemy Belligerent, Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010, and the proposed Terrorist Expatriation Act, which would revoke the citizenship of Americans suspected of terrorism. And now the senator from Connecticut wants to kill the Internet.

According to the bill he recently proposed in the Senate, the entire global Internet is to be claimed as a “national asset” of the United States. If Congress passes the bill, the US President would be given the power to “kill” the Internet in the event of a “national cyber-emergency.” Supporters of the legislation say this is necessary to prevent a “cyber 9/11” – yet another myth from the fearmongers who brought us tales of “Iraqi WMD” and “Iranian nukes.”

Lieberman’s concerns about the Internet are not new. The United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which Lieberman chairs, released a report in 2008 titled “Violent Islamist Extremism, The Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorist Threat.” The report claimed that groups like Al Qaeda use the Internet to indoctrinate and recruit members, and to communicate with each other.

Immediately after the report was published, Lieberman asked Google, the parent company of You Tube, to “immediately remove content produced by Islamist terrorist organisations.” That might sound like a reasonable request. However, as far as Lieberman is concerned, Hamas, Hezbollah and even the Iranian Revolutionary Guard are terrorist organisations.

It’s hardly surprising that Lieberman’s views on what constitute terrorism parallel those of Tel Aviv. As Mark Vogel, chairman of the largest pro-Israel Political Action Committee (PAC) in the United States, once said: “Joe Lieberman, without exception, no conditions … is the No. 1 pro-Israel advocate and leader in Congress. There is nobody who does more on behalf of Israel than Joe Lieberman.”

Lieberman has been well rewarded for his patriotism – to another country. In the past six years, he has been the Senate’s top recipient of political contributions from pro-Israel PACs with a staggering $1,226,956.

But what is it that bothers Lieberman so much about the Internet? Could it be that it allows ordinary Americans access to facts, which reveal exactly what kind of “friend” Israel has been to its overgenerous benefactor? Facts, which they have been denied by the pro-Israel mainstream media.

How much faith would American voters have in the likes of Lieberman, who claims that the Jewish state is their greatest ally, if they knew that Israeli agents planted firebombs in American installations in Egypt in 1954 in an attempt to undermine relations between Nasser and the United States; that Israel murdered 34 American servicemen in a deliberate attack on the USS Liberty on June 8, 1967; that Israeli espionage, most notably Jonathan Pollard’s spying, has done tremendous damage to American interests; that five Mossad agents were filming and celebrating as the Twin Towers collapsed on September 11, 2001; that Tel Aviv and its accomplices in Washington were the source of the false pre-war intelligence on Iraq; and about countless other examples of treachery?

In his latest attempt to censor the Internet, does Lieberman really want to protect the American people from imaginary cyber-terrorists? Or is he just trying to protect his treasonous cronies from the American people?

Hamsayeh.Net

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Maoist rebels killed at least 15 police officers

Maoist rebels killed at least 15 police officers and injured five more in an ambush in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, a senior local police officer told AFP.

The targeted group were returning from a road-opening ceremony when they were attacked by a large number of heavily armed militants, the head of anti-Maoist operations in the state, Ram Niwas, said by telephone.

Other local police sources said the Maoists, who massacred 76 policemen in Chhattisgarh in April, might have numbered as many as 100.

The officers were surrounded in the ambush, which took place in Dhodai, 300 kilometres (190 miles) south of Chhattisgarh state capital Raipur, and they fought back in a gunbattle that lasted three hours, the police said.

Some of injured were evacuated by helicopter, and reinforcements were sent to the area.

The government launched a major offensive last year to tackle the worsening left-wing insurgency, but since then the Maoists have hit back with a series of bloody strikes.

Maoist rebel groups have fought for decades throughout east India against state and central government rule, drawing support from landless tribal groups and farmers left behind by the country's economic expansion.

(AFP)

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India block leading Nepalese media company

Publication of the major newspapers of Nepal halted.The load has been blocked for 30 days in the port of Calcutta.Kathmandu says it violates trade treaties between the two countries.

For 30 days the Indian authorities have impounded about a thousand tons of paper for newsprint imported by Kantipur Nepali publishing company in the port of Calcutta. The seizure of the material from Canada and South Korea, prevents the release of the leading newspapers of Nepal and violates trade treaties between the two countries.

"In recent weeks - Kailash Sirohiya, head of Kantipur tells AsiaNews – we have repeatedly asked the Indian authorities to release the cargo, but they have not yet done so and we can not understand why all this is happening."

So far New Delhi has justified the detention, as a normal routine operation. In recent days the authorities in Calcutta have released 11 of the 39 containers, after the official meeting between Rakesh Sood, Indian ambassador to Nepal, and Sirohiya.

According to AsiaNews sources, the impounding is linked to some editorials against the Indian government published in newspapers related to Kantipur, Nepal daily and The Kathmandu Post, in recent months. Under accusation editorials on the level of Indian interference in Nepalese politics and the news on the killing of ethnic Nepalese in the Meghalaya (Western India) by the Khasi ethnic minority, a fact kept hidden for months by the Indian government.

(AsiaNews)

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Asif Ali Zardari visit China as nuclear deal advances

Islamabad looked to Beijing to counter to Indian influence.

China said on Tuesday that it will host Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari for top-level talks in early July, but would not say whether a controversial nuclear energy deal between the two nations will be discussed.

Zardari is a regular visitor to China, and his next trip from July 6 to 11 will include meetings with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news conference.

The announcement of the visit follows signs that China is moving forward with long-discussed plans to build two nuclear reactors at Pakistan's Chashma atomic complex, expanding a project that has worried Washington and India. [ID:nTOE65N02E]

Two Chinese nuclear companies this month signed a contract to cooperate in construct the third and fourth plants at Chashma, building on China's rule at the complex in Punjab province. Pakistan faces severe power shortages.

Qin did not directly answer reporters' questions about whether the deal will be discussed during Zardari's visit.

"Both sides will exchange views on how to advance friendly cooperation in all areas, and also on international and regional issues of shared concern," said Qin.

Mounting indications that China will proceed with the reactor expansion in Pakistan, troubled by militant groups, have stirred international misgivings, especially in neighbouring India and the United States, who have their own nuclear energy deal.

The United States said this month it wanted clarification from China on the proposed plants.

Pakistan and India are rivals, and both possess nuclear weapons and stay outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Islamabad has looked to Beijing to counter to Indian influence. In past decades, Chinese expertise was crucial to Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme, experts widely believe.

The proposed China-Pakistan nuclear energy deal was discussed last week by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a body of 46 governments that seek to control access to their nuclear fuel and reactor technology to prevent the spread of atomic weapons.

The Chinese spokesman Qin said that any nuclear cooperation with Pakistan should not worry any other countries.

"Cooperation between China and Pakistan for the use of nuclear energy fully conforms with the international non-proliferation undertakings assumed by both countries and is entirely for peaceful purposes," he said.

(Reuters)

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Explosive mood in Pakistan

By Syed Saleem Shahzad

Pakistani security agencies over the past few days have seized 28,000 kilograms of explosives in the city of Lahore, as well as anti-aircraft guns, rocket-propelled grenades, small arms and ammunition and suicide vests, a well-placed senior security official has told Asia Times Online.

The crackdown in the capital of Punjab province undoubtedly prevented another attack by al-Qaeda - there have been several over the past few years - and the opening up of a battle front in the city. However, the security official warned that al-Qaeda-linked militant attacks were still expected "from the southern port city of Karachi to the tribal areas".

Pakistan

is regularly a victim of militant attacks, but the focus of al-Qaeda and its allies until now has primarily been on the supply lines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that pass through Pakistan and on the Taliban-led insurgency across the border in Afghanistan.

A possible intensification of attacks across Pakistan comes at a critical time for the United States as it struggles to find a breakthrough in the nearly nine-year-old war in Afghanistan, especially ahead of mid-term elections in November in the US, where the war is becoming increasingly unpopular.

Pakistan is a crucial factor in any decision Washington makes over Afghanistan. Any US efforts to engage the Taliban and get them to join a reconciliation process with the Afghan government will require Pakistani assistance. Similarly, the US needs Pakistan to crack down on militant bases that feed into the insurgency, notably in the North Waziristan tribal area that borders Afghanistan, which also serves as the global headquarter of al-Qaeda's operations.

The key figure in Pakistan in terms of the US's war efforts is Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani, who is scheduled to retire this November. To date Pakistan's Washington-backed government has shown no sign of seeking an extension for him. Under Kiani the military apparatus has worked hard to solicit the Afghan Taliban for a basic level of reconciliation. Plans are in place for an operation in North Waziristan, but Kiani has indicated that he will decide when to go ahead, if at all.

Western media have exaggerated apparent relations between Afghan commander Sirajuddin Haqqani and the Pakistan military. For once, however, the military is pleased as this is the kind of influential role that Pakistan wants to play in Afghanistan in the future. Sirajuddin Haqqani is the son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the famed mujahideen commander who fought against the Soviets. The Haqqani network, which has a base in North Waziristan, is one of the most powerful insurgent groups in Afghanistan.

Sirajuddin Haqqani has acquired huge influence over the past few years in the Afghan provinces of Ghazni, Khost, Paktia and Paktika. He has also fully supported attacks co-ordinated and facilitated by al-Qaeda, such as the ones in Kabul and on Bagram air base this year.

While he travels extensively in Afghanistan, North Waziristan is still his strategic backyard, and here he is completely dependent on al-Qaeda or al-Qaeda-inspired groups. For this reason he contributed to the anti-Shi'ite attacks in Kurram Agency in 2007 and he has sent his men to support local Sunni militias. During the military offensive in 2009 against militants in South Waziristan, Sirajuddin Haqqani provided sanctuary to escaping Mehsud militants.

However, while Sirajuddin Haqqani is al-Qaeda's asset, his ailing father Jalaluddin is somewhat different as he has long-standing friendships with several Pashtu-speaking officers who are now high-ranking.

After September 11, 2001, when Pakistan had joined the US's "war on terror", Jalaluddin was invited a few times to Islamabad to get him to separate from the Taliban. He was not a part of the original Taliban movement but he unconditionally surrendered and supported the Taliban when they emerged in the mid-1990s and then took power in Kabul in 1996. He led his own faction as a "moderate" Taliban.

Pakistani officials assured Jalaluddin that he could become prime minister - or even president - in the new Afghanistan following the Taliban's ouster in late 2001. He refused outright, saying he was still loyal to Taliban leader Mullah Omar. If Jalaluddin were to separate from Mullah Omar, it would jolt the Taliban movement, but it would also cost him his command in several Afghan provinces. Further, he would lose his al-Qaeda-supported base in North Waziristan and within months he would be yesterday's man.
In the year 2010, Jalaluddin's stance remains the same, as does the position of his son Sirajuddin.

As it scrambles for solutions, Washington has encouraged Afghan President Hamid Karzai in his dealings with the Pakistani security apparatus to strike deals with the Taliban in Pashtun-dominated southern Afghanistan.

Karzai has called for the delisting of some Taliban from a United Nations terror list and has released hundreds of Taliban and people linked to the Hezb-e-Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. He also booted out two prominent anti-Pakistan figures, including the head of the National Directorate of Security, Amrullah Saleh. He was a senior figure in the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance that helped the US oust the Taliban regime in 2001. Also sacked was interior minister Hanif Atmar, who as a young man served in Afghanistan's communist-era intelligence agency and fought mujahideen opposed to the Soviet occupation.

"This decision leaves Hamid Karzai under a serious security threat," a former Afghan general who served with the communists as well as with the mujahideen against the Soviets told Asia Times Online on the condition of anonymity. "His overtures with Pakistan are unlikely to bear fruit in terms of a breakthrough with the Taliban, but now he keeps up the hostility level with the northern Afghan militant factions who have encircled him deeply inside Kabul."

In the mean time, a large terror attack could once again change the dynamics of the region, whether it took place in Afghanistan, Pakistan or even India.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com

( Asia Times Online )

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Challenges To The Muslim Women in Kashmir

Inshah Malik

Conflict complicates lives, reverence is due, to all the peace keepers and humanity and Justice Upholders who when fought did so with some objectivity. The prophet of Islam made special references to populations such as women, old aged and the children during a calamity such as war. The special instructions were given to the fighters to be sure they protect such people and maintain dignity of the war for a just cause. In today’s world these populations are referred to as the civilians. In Modern day war civilians are the worst sufferers of the strife during the conflicts (Bhutalia, 2002) and ofcourse women particularly bear the brunt of been caught between the warring parties. In Kashmir the conflict has become stinging and protracted. The resolution process is the most cumbersome and involvement of so many stakeholders has made it nearly impossible to see a solution soon. This ongoing conflict from the feminist lenses actually seizes to be a war for women, the idea of Azadi has always been a hijacked masculine concept. Women have definitely participated in the uproar but when it comes to construction of an enemy, women in Kashmir are perceived as a property of the enemy by the Masculine Indian security forces. The security forces are to the dismay and disadvantage of the Muslim women in Kashmir which is quite an established fact by now. It raises considerable questions about the roles of a Nationalist army, which has ethnic dimensions also. Hindu masculine army versus Muslim women, disclosed is the hate spewed by the so called security forces during their search corden and stringent operation in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district. Indian army is also the part of the universal hate against Muslims across the world. Now it looks irrefutable at this juncture.

The incidence of sexual violence against the women by the army is widespread and enrages the men in the community including the militants (those who fight against the Indian occupation). However rape was something unheard of before the inception of militarization it makes women stigmatized. This stigma within the family and also within the society challenges the patriarchal roles of a protector of the man within the family and such challenges culminate into violence against women within the family. Conflict has also challenged the traditional roles of women and has not socialized them into their new roles.

The rise in domestic violence is also seen as the repercussion of the extended political failure in conflict areas (Scanlon, 2008). The conflict has two important long term implications on the women who suffer violence from either contestant groups of the conflict, one is on their health and the other is on the economic status of the family. Sexual violence against the women ruptures their ties with their immediate family, mostly the men. Men struggle to support the family during turbulent conditions at the work place, and leads to violent confrontations at home. Women in Kashmir after surviving sexual violence lead a stigmatized life which further affects their societal positioning and which affects their men leading to further violence at home. There are two essential ways in which the relationships are affected. The condition generated by the on-going conflict push men to get stricter with the mobility of their women.

Women during an armed struggle always remain a second priority for the militants. In Muslim societies it has been seen such as in Afghanistan where women’s rights have always been denied and even curbed till the objective of the struggle is achieved (Khattak, 1998). Women in Kashmir witnessed checks on their mobility from the militants, stringent dictum like pardah are imposed so as to protect them. These dictums were enforced by the militants to safeguard women from the Indian army who frequently raped them. While (Khattak, 1998) calls such practices as the manifestation of patriarchy and the mobility of women is also curbed to protect larger nationalist or ethnic interests. Women have reported this phenomenon in various ways and the study reveals that the women suffer doubly not just from the army but also from the armed strugglers.

Sexual violence against the women further fracture emotional relationship that women share with their men. In the turbulent times in order to support their family men go out, it is intricate outside the house they leave behind their women and are always worried about they are worried of their protection all the time. This chaotic situation leads men to vent out their irritation against the women and they operate various kinds of control on their women which may lead to further violence. The patriarchal role of a man as a protector is severely challenged. The conflict began and is apparent in the village life in Kashmir; army has entered their domestic life in huge numbers affecting women who usually in a traditional Kashmiri society stay at home. Men also have to confront direct violence while they move out of their home for the purpose of livelihood. In this confused state when men are dealing with two different challenges they are reminded of the moral obligations that they have towards their women who they perceive to be in danger, this leads men to inflict stricter laws of security around women, especially around the issues of her mobility. The dictums such as veil or Burkha are often issued under these circumstances. Hence the challenging of the patriarchal roles which is the repercussion of their outside influences starts showing on the women in terms of physical abuse or mental harassment. In such conditions when women face unacceptability both from family and society, even the family members affiliated to militant movement may abhor such women. In case of women who have lost their son’s, their complicated health demands treatment and hence economic support which the dependent women feel deprived of after the loss of the son. They always feel that loosing their sons has complicated their life. The son who could have taken care of the mother, his death impacts the mental health of the women. It can lead to turbulent family relations as the family might not know how the women should be kept or consoled. Women reported various mental and physical ailments and side by side how it was further influenced by the economic condition of the household. Muslim women in Kashmir are silently playing their roles without being sufficiently trained as to how to deal with the complicated situations outside. It is these silent deaths that they are living and in reaction to that government is ready to send more and more army as and when required to fight a war against its own people and the biggest demon of security threat from Pakistan that seems to be satisfying the ego of the larger government system.

Inshah Malik is a PhD scholar at the Tata Institute of social sciences, Mumbai, India. Email: Inshah.malik@tiss.edu

Kashmiri society Islam Mumbai, India Kashmir

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پاکستان کا خوشگوار سفر!

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Turkey closes airspace to Israeli flights

Turkey has once again proved that they have courage to take steps against brutality of Israel .Erdogan ban Israel from airspace

Turkey has closed its airspace to some Israeli military flights following a deadly raid on a Gaza—bound aid ship, the Turkish prime minister and officials said today. An official said civilian commercial flights were not affected.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in Toronto that Turkey imposed a ban on Israeli flights after the May 31 raid on a Turkish ship that was part of a six—vessel international aid flotilla, according to the state—run Anatolia news agency.

The prime minister, who is in Canada to attend a summit of the Group of 20 major industrial and developing nations, did not elaborate.

A Turkish government official said, however, that the ban was for Israeli military flights and that commercial flights were not affected. It was not a blanket ban and each flight request would be assessed case—by—case, the official added.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity, in line with government rules that bar officials from speaking to journalists without prior authorisation.

Yesterday, Israel’s Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported that Turkey had not allowed a plane carrying Israeli military officers, en route to a tour of memorial sites in Auschwitz, Poland, to fly over Turkish airspace.

The transport plane, with more than 100 officers on board, was forced to make a detour, the paper said.

Keywords: Turkey, some Israeli flights, airspace closure, prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish ship raid

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Should Pakistan Trust Karzai?

Hamid Karzai; How Sincere Are You Towards Pakistan?

Hamid Karzai is walking on a tight rope. Ever grateful to Washington for getting the prized post of president of Afghanistan, he has been pursuing American dictates faithfully. He agreed to give all the major portfolios to non-Pashtun Northern Alliance members in his government and to sideline his own Pashtun community enjoying distinct majority. He allowed Indian influence to expand in his country on American insistence and let Afghan soil to be used for subversive activities against Pakistan. Mossad was also allowed a firm toehold in Afghanistan. On the prompting of his mentors he has all along maintained a hostile stance towards Pakistan. By following pro-American policies he became highly unpopular in his country.

To make himself useful, he fed an idea to Washington that given the resources and backing, he would be able to win over majority of Taliban leaders through bribes and incentives and would affect an in-house coup within Taliban ranks after isolating Mullah Omar led hardliners. Once he was given a green signal in 2007, he began to establish contacts with former and current members of Taliban Shura and other resistance groups. By 2009 he was able to make good gains among former Taliban ministers, Hizb-e-Islami and others. Among present Shura, Mullah Ghani Baradar was his big catch. He had made secret contacts with him through his half brother Ahmad Wali Karzai but didn’t disclose this breakthrough to USA. His efforts got stalled because of unexpected successes achieved by Taliban against coalition forces in southern and eastern Afghanistan from June to September 2009 putting ISAF on the back foot.

The US leaders began to have second thoughts about Karzai when situation in Afghanistan began to slip out of their hands. He failed to muster requisite votes in August 2009 presidential election. Although he was helped to get re-elected in November through rigging then the same people made his credibility highly doubtful by feeding the information of the elctions being rigged. He however felt convinced that it was America’s doing to weaken his political standing. He was warned by Obama to improve governance, get rid of corruption in various departments and to improve his standing among Pashtuns in particular and Afghans in general so as to become a bridge between Americans and Pashtuns. These unfriendly acts gave second thoughts to Karzai about US sincerity as well.

Once Obama announced withdrawal timeline of July 2011 and stuck to it despite strong opposition from Karzai, India and Israel, he realized that the US would again leave Afghanistan in a lurch and his fate will not be different to Babrak Karmal or Dr Najibullah. He also assessed that US-NATO had lost the will and was not in a position to defeat Taliban movement. It was in the backdrop of these lurking fears that he hurtled some anti-US and pro-Taliban statements to win the confidence of latter. He also tried hard to allay the heart burnings of Pakistan by making series of friendly statements. While throwing feelers of goodwill towards Taliban and Pakistan, he is still not ready to lose the goodwill of USA and India since the situation at the moment is highly fluid. While he has smelt that USA has lost the war, coming six months are crucial. In this period, it will be decided which side the balance tilts.

Arrest of Baradar, deputy of Mullah Omar, by Pak security forces in January at the pointing of CIA was a setback for him since Baradar’s participation in loya jirga scheduled at Kabul in April would have made a huge difference. When he failed to get him released, he went ahead with the jirga on 2 June which was attended by 1600 people from almost all strands of Afghan society. His plan of re-integration of Taliban through negotiations was endorsed by all. His plan is however not entirely in line with US plan which hinges on first defeating the Taliban on battlefield and then negotiating with them from a position of strength. Americans are sticking to this plan since they want to leave behind a regime of their choice which could safeguard their future interests and also agree to a sizeable military presence in Baghram and Kandahar air bases.

Rocket attacks on the jirga were certainly the handiwork of anti-Karzai and anti-Taliban forces. The chief suspect is Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh who was very peeved over Karzai’s change of stance towards Pakistan. He is completely influenced by RAW and Mossad and is a vehement enemy of Pakistan, particularly ISI. He has contributed a lot towards coloring perceptions of US officials based in Afghanistan against Pakistan and in assisting RAW in recruiting agents and launching them into Balochistan and FATA. Interior Minister Hanif Atmar is another anti-Pakistan Afghan official. Both are US men and have been taking commands from Washington and New Delhi. Their sacking by Karzai is a big loss for USA and India especially because of highly turbulent security situation and the US having no clear cut strategy for exit.

In the wake of Marjah operation and much hyped operation Kandahar planned in September, the Taliban instead of going on the defensive have become more assertive. Rate of attacks have accelerated and so is the casualty rate of occupation forces. June is proving to be the most deadly month since 2001. In case Kandahar operation turns into another fiasco, it will have grave ramifications for USA. It will lose whatever leverage it still has on certain groups and spaces it controls. The situation has become dicey because of ouster of Gen McChrystal who had conceived the offensive plan and was making hectic preparations. Morale of occupation troops is already very low. Many feel that their civil leaders and war merchants have turned them into sacrificial lambs to upkeep their mercantile interests. Disgraceful dismissal of their commander may be resented by them and further erode their resolve to fight a losing battle.

In 1989, the US abandoned Afghanistan in haste since it was a victor and had fulfilled all its objectives. The situation now is altogether different. It has not achieved even a single objective and is bound to lose the war. Under such adverse circumstances, it may not be possible for coalition troops to pullout easily and safely. It will be highly costly withdrawal. Afghans revenge against defeated foe is horrifying since they believe in total massacre and that too in most brutal ways.

In case Karzai is not playing a double game and is sincere in his overtures towards Pakistan, it is to the advantage of Pakistan in post American exit era. The only worrying thing for Pakistan is whether Karzai at his own will be able to steer the ship or will seek Indian assistance? Another upsetting matter is that the US is a very bad loser. When it finds that there is no way out left to save its ship in Afghanistan from sinking, it may opt for another misadventure either against Pakistan or Iran, or else handover security of Afghanistan to India.

Brig A. H. Raja, The writer is a retired Brig, security and defence analyst and author of several books.

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Afghan War Much Tougher Than Expected: CIA Chief

CIA chief admits that the war in Afghanistan is much tougher than anyone expected.

I think the Taliban obviously is engaged in greater violence right now. They are doing more on IED`S (improvised explosive devices). They are going after our troops. There's no question about that: Panetta

United States slowly realizes the perils of war in Afghanistan as the CIA chief Leon Panetta finally admitted the ongoing war was much tougher than anyone had anticipated.

In a latest attack on US-led troops five NATO soldiers four of them from Norway died in Afghanistan bringing the total number of US and NATO casualties to almost 100 in the month of June. US military analysts painted rosy pictures of the situation in Afghanistan after Marjah offensive which they said was to show local Afghan support for democracy in that province.

Less than a week ago, the chief commander Stanley McChrystal who had supposedly engineered the Marjah offensive was sacked from his post by a decree from Barack Obama. Now the CIA chief admits that Obama’s much talked about troops surge initiative didn’t achieve its objectives. Panetta admitted that attacks on foreign troops is on the rise by a much bolder opponent using more IED bombings and direct targeting of coalition troops. He said, ‘we are making progress. It's harder, it's slower than I think anyone anticipated.’

US-led troops have been at war in Afghanistan for more than 9 years following the Sep. 11 attacks. However, the underlying reason behind this invasion was to secure a foothold close to Central Asia bordering Russia, Iran and China. The plan would give Western powers a greater leverage to securing the flow of oil and gas in the region, thus maintain and prolong their monopoly over the globe’s post World War II political and economic system.

United States interests depend on global energy transactions performed in US dollars, which would in turn keep the wheels of its economy running despite massive debt.

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May This be the Last G-20 Summit

After spending $1 billion to provide security for this year's so-called G20 Summit, world leaders finally agreed to curb deficit on their own terms!
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The fact that so much attention has been directed towards the policing is largely due to the lack of anything newsworthy coming out of the summit itself.
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by John Hilary

To a foreigner, the Canadian police are a confusing bunch. With Toronto locked down for the G20 summit, several of them have been cycling around the deserted streets on mountain bikes presenting what we would see as the very picture of community policing. Yet side by side with this benign image is an intimidating, militarised presence that many Canadians feel has been deliberately cultivated in order to undermine their right to protest against the G20 and its damaging impacts.

The security operation on the streets of Toronto has provided Canadians with the greatest single talking point of the G20 gathering this weekend. Many locals are furious at the $1bn price tag for policing a summit which they never wanted to host in the first place. As John Clarke of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty pointed out, that same money could have paid for five years of the provincial food supplement programme that has just been scrapped in the latest round of austerity cuts.

The high level of militarisation that has been witnessed over the past couple of days has also been a major talking point, as Canadians are not accustomed to seeing such weaponry being so openly paraded at civil demonstrations. One small protest against poverty and homelessness in Toronto itself was quickly surrounded by vast numbers of police in full riot gear, including mounted police. More chilling still was the visible presence of heavily armed officers touting tear gas rifles and other firearms; police have also confirmed firing plastic bullets and pepper spray capsules at demonstrators on Saturday night.

Many Canadians have become suspicious of police tactics since the Quebec police force admitted that it had disguised three of its own officers as rock-wielding anarchists in an attempt to provoke violence at a peaceful protest in the town of Montebello two years ago. Somewhat farcically, the three were exposed as agents provocateurs when they were found to be wearing official issue police boots identical to those of the uniformed officers "arresting" them.

There are concerns that similar skulduggery may have played a part in Toronto this weekend, where the burning of three police cars quickly became the defining image of Saturday's otherwise peaceful demonstration. Questions are being asked as to why the police chose to drive the vehicles into the middle of a group of protesters and then abandon them, and why there was no attempt to put out the flames until the nation's media had been given time to record the scenes for broadcast around the world.

The fact that so much attention has been directed towards the policing is largely due to the lack of anything newsworthy coming out of the summit itself. Even David Cameron, attending for the first time as British prime minister, published his own desperate plea in the Canadian press this week for summits to be turned into something more than the hot air and photo opportunities they have been in the past. (How this relates to his stated intention to take time out to watch the second half of the England v Germany game with Angela Merkel was not made clear.)

As an invitation-only club whose membership was literally drawn up on the back of an envelope, the G20 never laid any claim to legitimacy. Now it is also in danger of losing any credibility as a forum for global economic governance. Its failure to address any of the structural problems that caused the financial and economic crises of the past three years has certainly not gone unnoticed in Toronto, let alone its complete refusal to deal with the challenge of climate change.

Unbelievably, the G20 is scheduled to hold its next summit in just a few months. If the Canadian experience has taught us anything, it is that such meetings are simply not worth the candle. There are more than enough forums already available for national leaders to discuss the key issues of our time, and almost every one of them has a greater claim to openness and inclusivity than the G20. Now is the time to end the charade of these summits once and for all.

(The Guardian)

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Bhopal still waits for justice

In Bhopal about 200,000 people were significantly injured, but 574,000 were given compensation.

Praful Bidwai

The contrast between BP’s response to the outrage over the oil spill in the US and Union Carbide’s attitude to the uproar over the Bhopal disaster of 1984 couldn’t have been sharper. Confronted by a hostile public and a president who wants to “kick ass”, BP has pledged $20 billion in initial remediation and is mobilising another $50 billion — although its legal liability is only $75 million.

Carbide got away with $470 million, equivalent to its insurance cover plus interest, for causing the world’s greatest industrial disaster. It didn’t even have to liquidate major assets. The spill’s death-toll (11) is tiny beside Bhopal’s, although the impact on fisheries and the environment will be enormous. But BP’s bosses are in trouble. Its chairman had to apologise repeatedly for referring to the affected fisherfolk and petty businessmen as “small people”. Its CEO Tony Hayward got serious flak from the administration for attending a yacht race at the height of the crisis.

Carbide chairman Warren Anderson was briefly arrested in Bhopal. But he was released within hours, treated like a VIP, and flown to Delhi in a state plane. Why, he had a meeting not just with Foreign Secretary Rasgotra, but also with India’s president.

In the US, corporations and politicians are straining to align themselves with strong anti-BP public opinion. In India, companies and industry associations have been largely silent on the June 7 Bhopal judgment which treated the disaster on a par with a traffic accident. Worse, some business leaders, including Deepak Parekh — one of India’s best-regarded executives, who serves on many companies’ boards — found the verdict harsh. They warned it would scare independent directors away from companies.

They ignore the notion of strict or no-fault liability. Negligence which causes public harm can only be deterred if severely punished. Being corporate decision-makers, directors are liable — even if they aren’t personally responsible for every design detail or operational hazard.

Their culpability is greater — as in Bhopal — if they have prior knowledge of the hazards. Union Carbide’s directors clearly knew of the Bhopal plant’s potential for fatal accidents. These had occurred before December 1984.

This doesn’t argue that the US government and legal system are pro-people, only that India’s legal system is institutionally flawed. Its self-appointing higher judiciary is unaccountable. It hasn’t developed instruments for punishing corporate crimes. The Indian establishment is, like those in the neighbourhood, cravenly pro-rich, pro-corporate and pro-American. This includes top judges, lawyers, opinion-shapers and bureaucrats who inherit a colonial state structure indifferent to the people.

Yet, so great has been the public outrage over the latest Bhopal judgment that the government reconstituted the Group of Ministers on Bhopal, which has submitted its report. On its positive side are recommendations for a curative petition on the judgment and the 1989 compensation award; expediting Anderson’s extradition; and speeding up the case against Carbide’s successor, Dow Chemical, in the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

On the negative side are its silence on Dow’s liability and its paltry recommendations for relief to the victims.

A curative petition asking the Supreme Court to modify its 1996 order downgrading criminal charges against UCC, Carbide’s fully-owned Hong Kong-based subsidiary Union Carbide Eastern, and its 51 per cent-subsidiary Indian subsidiary Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL), is welcome. But this shouldn’t stop at restoring the charge of culpable homicide.

The Indian Penal Code clearly defines murder in subsection 4 of Section 300: “If the person committing the act knows that it is so imminently dangerous that it must, in all probability, cause death or such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, and commits such act without any excuse for incurring the risk of causing death or such injury ….”

Carbide indisputably committed such acts by operating an unsafe, poorly designed plant — which, it knew, would lead to large-scale fatalities. The plant’s pipeline design was faulty. A 1982 safety audit said it had 30 major flaws. Logically, the accused must be re-tried for murder.

Yet, Anderson and UCC and UCE directors weren’t even tried in Bhopal because they absconded. This violates a condition stipulated in Judge Keenan’s order, which sent the case back to India — namely, they would stand trial in India and abide by an Indian judgment.

Not only does this warrant Anderson’s extradition; it allows India to press fresh charges against UCC in the US, including contempt of court. This must be done expeditiously. The 1989 compensation award was based on the assumption of 3,000 deaths. But the official death-toll is five times higher and the number injured 10 times greater. The average compensation for death was Rs100,000 — a travesty given that death in rail accidents and natural disasters is better compensated.

In Bhopal, about 200,000 people were significantly injured, but 574,000 were given compensation. This reduced the amount paid to the seriously affected. This couldn’t even pay for their medical treatment, leave alone get damages for suffering or disability. The victims’ categorisation was arbitrary. Over 92 per cent were categorised as having “minor” injuries. Only 3,241 people (0.7 per cent of those affected) were categorised as severely injured. This makes nonsense of surveys by the Indian Council of Medical Research and other agencies.

The GoM-proposed enhanced compensation looks impressive. But it will cover only 42,208 people and exclude 91 per cent of those affected. This is grossly unjust.

The GoM report fails to mention the need for a high-level Empowered Commission on Bhopal, including medical and rehabilitation experts, NGOs, and the victims’ representatives, which collates all available evidence and organises adequate compensation and medical treatment. This was demanded by the victims and agreed to by the government in 2008. But the GoM doesn’t even mention it.

Yet, new medical facilities must be urgently established so the victims can live with dignity, and freedom from pain and humiliation. These must be staffed by competent, sensitive professionals who understand the need to rebuild the survivors’ lives in their entirety.

Now, consider the GoM’s negative side. It doesn’t hold Dow liable for land and water contamination around the Bhopal plant because Dow doesn’t own it. What matters is that Carbide created a liability over and above the accident through the contamination. Carbide knew this and its likely effects, having conducted numerous site surveys. By natural justice principles, a successor company inherits both the assets and liabilities of the corporation it purchases. Dow is clearly obliged to clean up the Bhopal site and compensate the 30,000 people who are forced to drink the polluted water.

To evade this responsibility, Dow’s chairman Andrew Liveris has pressed his nefarious case through business leader Ratan Tata, Home Minister P Chidambaram and other bigwigs. He has twice met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. However, it’s imperative to hold Dow liable as Carbide’s successor.

If the government presses charges against Carbide in the US for violating the conditions under which the litigation was sent to India, the issue of liability will inevitably arise. That must be settled now.

The effort to bury the Bhopal legacy is misguided. Unfortunately, the legacy lives on. Justice demands that it is brought to an honourable, dignified closure in a fair and transparent manner. The GoM has failed to do that.

The writer, a former newspaper editor, is a researcher and peace and human-rights activist based

in Delhi.

Email: prafulbidwai1@yahoo.co.in

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Israel Acts as an Assassin For the United States

Oil-dependent United States and its allies ruled by a vast network of Zionist think-tanks, have been trying hard to prolong their grip on a post-WWII global system of politics and economy.


Israel has become the assassin arm of the United States no one can doubt it. It is a threat to all of us: International Leader Hugo Chavez.

Vastly popular President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez reiterated Latin America’s support for Middle Eastern struggle against the global arrogance led by the United States and its little lackey Israel.

On Saturday, he described Israel an agent of assassination acting on behalf of the US but predicted its downfall one day soon, Reuters reported. ‘It has become the assassin arm of the United States no one can doubt it. It is a threat to all of us,’ Chavez said during a meeting with visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian President is touring Latina American nations of Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and Cuba in the coming days. Chavez said the Golan Heights were parts of Syrian territory and will one day return to the Syrian hands. ‘But one day the genocidal state of Israel will be put into its place, and let's hope that a really democratic state emerges there, with which we can share a path and ideas,’ Reuters quoted him as saying.

Oil-dependent United States and its allies ruled by a vast network of Zionist think-tanks, have been trying hard to prolong their grip on a post-WWII global system of politics and economy. One of their main aims has been to pressure oil rich nations from undertaking their own domestic developmental projects thus make them depend on foreign assistance and net importers of western- manufactured consumer goods. But with the emergence of progressive leaders in those countries, United States and Israel now face the daunting task of confronting a whole array of nations that oppose the current variety of casino capitalism preached by Washington and Tel-Aviv.

During his visit to Venezuela, the Syrian President applauded Chavez for his courageous criticism of the US and Israel. ‘Few politicians are brave enough to say no, when it is necessary to say no, He has revealed an image of Venezuela in resistance, creating a place for Venezuela on the international map. He has been on the side on just causes both in Latin America, in our region the Middle East and in the whole world.’ Bashar al-Assad said.

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US-Israel Massing Troops and Equipment in Caucasus: Says Report

The report says, by hiding the operations from Russian vessels, the United States is using Georgian ports on the Black Sea to deliver military equipment into the region.

Israeli undercover agents acting as technicians and trainers have transferred warplanes using Turkish airspace to Caucasus region: Akhbar Al-Khaleej.

There are unconfirmed reports that the Israeli regime with direct assistance from the United States is massing strike warplanes in Georgia and Azerbaijan for a planned aerial attack against Iranian targets, reported Bahrain daily newspaper Akhbar Al-Khaleej quoting military sources.

According to Akhbar Al-Khaleej Israeli undercover agents acting as technicians and trainers have transferred warplanes using Turkish airspace to Caucasus region. The operation seems to have been partly bugged down when relations between Turkey and Israel deteriorated following the latter’s attack on humanitarian flotilla carrying good to Gaza Strip last month.

The unnamed military sources said Ankara was unaware of Israeli - US transfer of warplanes to Caucasus during their joint exercises. The report says, by hiding the operations from Russian side, the United States is using Georgian ports on the Black Sea to deliver military equipment into the region.

Akhbar Al-Khaleej indicated that Israel had cancelled its initial plan of operating long-distance warplanes for an attack against Iran and it was now contemplating using airbases in Georgia and Azerbaijan for such an eventuality. Also, earlier Iran’s Press TV reported a large contingent of US troops massing near the Iranian border in Azerbaijan.

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Pakistan and India come a step closer

Removing trust deficit between India and Pakistan steps ahead.

Pakistan and India come a step closer as both countries agreed that terrorism is the dominant issue in the region, but still their future relations depends on the way they remove the trust deficit that exist between them for long, experts said Saturday.

The conference of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) held in Pakistan's capital Islamabad issued a joint declaration on Saturday revealing that the member countries, especially Pakistan and India, agreed over cooperation against terrorism.

In the joint declaration the South Asian countries vowed that none of the member country's soil should be used against other state.

A day earlier of this meeting Pakistani interior minister Rehman Malik and his Indian counterpart held a one-on-one meeting. After the meeting Malik termed it as a positive beginning.

The visiting Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram also praised Pakistan's steps against terrorism and lauded Malik's efforts for peace.

After Thursday meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in Islamabad both sides seemed positive. In the meeting both sides agreed to insulate peace process of terrorism.

"After this engagement, I feel much more optimistic about a good outcome at the ministerial level and good prospects for the two countries in terms of our relationship," Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told media.

However, it was not considered as important as purpose of the meeting was to set agenda for the forthcoming meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries.

Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers S.M. Krishna and Shah Mehmood Qureshi are scheduled to meet in Islamabad on July 15, the third major contact in six months between both countries that have fought three wars in 60 years.

Seasoned defence analyst Talat Masood told Xinhua that he saw a positive change in India's role and posture. "India wants peace in the region for its economic development and a global status. That is not possible if it will have rivalries with Pakistan."

Besides, now the whole world realizes Pakistan's sincerity and sacrifices in war against terrorism, observers said.

However, analyst and expert on international relations Dr. Tahir Amin was not optimistic about the future relations between the two countries. He told Xinhua that India is not sincere in resolving the long standing issues with Pakistan. "It holds talks and issues positive statements just under international pressure," he added.

Masood contradicts this saying power like India cannot be pressurized and there are other reasons for India preparedness for talks.

"It tried pressure tactics against Pakistan like increasing army on border with the country, it suspended dialogue with Pakistan after Mumbai attacks in 2008, and it fought wars with the later. But all these didn't work. The two south Asian countries are armed with nukes, which is a dominant factor in shaping the relations. So now India concluded that dialogue is the only way forward," he said.

Implementation of the decisions taken in the conference of 8- member SAARC depends on the decision of the foreign ministers of the two countries that are to meet in July, analysts said.

Some analysts link future relations between Pakistan and India to their ability of removing trust deficit between them as top officials of the two countries in May accepted that the deficit exists that needs to be removed.

Head of Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) Imtiaz Gul told Xinhua that time would tell that how much talks process between the two countries were successful. "The success depends on their ability to remove the mistrust that overshadows their relations for long," he said.

For the last 61 years the two countries have been at odds with each other due to their long-standing issues including Kashmir and fought four wars in 1948, 1965, 1971 and 1999.

In the 21st century relations between the two countries witnessed several ups and downs and the composite dialogue was suspended after Mumbai attacks killing about 166 people in India. Analysts maintain that for India the most important issue is terrorism but for Pakistan water issue is also important along with terrorism.

"Resolving all the issues including water and Kashmir are possible, though not so early, if sincere steps are taken on both sides," Masood said.

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G20 Show Goes On

The Same Washington spinsters who have driven our contry into the ground seemed to be out in full force proclamining an empty victory.
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is the most "sweeping change" of our financial regulatory since the Great Depression.

Actually, it is nothing more than window dressing.

The real sweeping change of our financial system took place over the past 20 years. The irresponsible repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999. The Commodities and Futures Modernization Act of 2000 by Larry Summers and Bob Rubin -- the one that legalized the most destructive financial instruments of all, derivatives. The leverage exemption at the SEC in 2004, asked for (in person) and received by Hank Paulson and friends.

Of course, there are small victories here -- there is better investor protection and, most importantly, an awakened citizenry.

What's not fixed?

- The Cops (regulators and ratings agencies) working for the crooks.

- Banks still Too Big To Fail.

- Banks gambling with your deposits.

- Banks allowed to "mark to myth" and use off-balance sheet accounting to bonus themselves into the atmosphere, with the taxpayer taking the fall.

- Banks getting trillions from the Fed, Fannie and Freddie -- AKA you, the future and present taxpayer.

What does it mean for us?

It means that the same people who brought you these horrible changes - rising wealth discrepancy, massive unemployment and a crumbling infrastructure - have now further institutionalized the policies that will keep the causes of these problems firmly in place.

Meanwhile, all involved in the facade try to pretend that this should be considered a success because, gosh, real financial reform is just too hard and those crafty banksters will just outsmart us anyhow. Many in the media are either too complicit, too confused or too lazy to contradict this spin, but the rest of us shouldn't buy that BS. Real and lasting financial reform is actually quite easy to implement -- and the last time we had a crisis of this magnitude, we kept the banksters in check for 70 years.

Time and time again in America, they don't win -- we do.

And I believe as we head towards election time with leaders whose only plan for creating new jobs is a few more workers manicuring soon-to-be even bigger Bankster bonus-fueled estates coupled with a few more government handouts, this lesson will be learned once again.

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